Apexoconnection: A Novel Technique to Determine Working Length

Figures & data

Figure 1 Limited space for conventional attachment device.

Table 1 Exclusion Criteria for Teeth Selection

Obvious caries

Coronal restorations

Resorptive defects

Curvatures

Open apices

Root canal obliteration

Perforation

Incomplete root formation

Figure 2 K-file inserted into the root canal under the microscope, exceeding the apical foramen.

Figure 3 Under the microscope, the K-file was inserted into the root canal at the most cervical edge of the apical foramen.

Figure 4 Alginate apparatus for electronic working length determination.

Table 2 Normality Assessment of the Data Using Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk’s Tests

Canal Length	Groups	Kolmogorov–Smirnov			Shapiro–Wilk
		Statistic	df	p	Statistic	df	p
	RWL	0.082	118	0.050	0.984	118	0.188
	EAL	0.078	118	0.077	0.981	118	0.101
	EALc	0.062	118	0.200*	0.978	118	0.050

Note: *p > 0.05.

Table 3 Statistics Values of Real Working Length and Length Determined by the Two Techniques

Canal Length	N	Mean	SD	Std. Error	95% Confidence Interval for Mean		Minimum	Maximum
					Lower Bound	Upper Bound
RWL	118	17.98	2.02	0.19	17.61	18.35	12.86	23.43
EAL	118	17.88	1.95	0.18	17.53	18.24	13.1	23.05
EALc	118	18.01	1.91	0.18	17.66	18.36	13.93	23
Total	354	17.96	1.95	0.10	17.75	18.16	12.86	23.43

Table 4 Results of One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Test

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	p
Between Groups	1.019	2	0.509	0.133	0.876
Within Groups	1346.775	351	3.837
Total	1347.793	353

Table 5 Results of Tukey’s Post-Hoc Tests

Tukey HSD
(I) Groups	(J) Groups	Mean Difference (I-J)	Std. Error	p	95% Confidence Interval
					Lower Bound	Upper Bound
RWL	EAL	0.09386	0.25502	0.928	−0.5064	0.6941
	EALc	−0.03271	0.25502	0.991	−0.6329	0.5675
EAL	RWL	−0.09386	0.25502	0.928	−0.6941	0.5064
	EALc	−0.12657	0.25502	0.873	−0.7268	0.4737
EALc	RWL	0.03271	0.25502	0.991	−0.5675	0.6329
	EAL	0.12657	0.25502	0.873	−0.4737	0.7268

Figure 5 Apexoconnection technique shows clinical significance when limited space is available.